GM Mustard

Context (TH | DTE): SC criticised the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC) for not considering the recommendations of the Technical Advisory Committee report (TEC).

Background

The GE mustard was developed in the 1990s and patented in 2002 by CGMCP. (The Centre for Genetic Manipulation of Crop Plants, University of Delhi).
it was developed using barnase, barnstar, and bar genes.

Near approval of GM Mustard in 2017

In September 2015, CGMCP submitted an application to the GEAC requesting permission for the environmental release of DMH-11.
In 2016, GEAC constituted a Sub-Committee to review the technical details and Dossier.
- The Sub-Committee submitted in its final report, “Assessment of Food and Environmental Safety (AFES)”, approved for the environmental release.
- It concluded that the hybrid DMH-11 does not pose any risk of causing any adverse effects on human and animal health and safety.
In May 2017, GEAC recommended environmental release of GE Mustard for approval by MoEFCC.
However, the approval was not given by MoEFCC due to the pressure from activists, scientists, etc.

How did the issue resurface?

On October 18, 2022, the MoEFCC approved the environmental release of GM mustard.
In November 2022, the SC issued a status quo. Since A group of petitioners challenged the decision. (activist Aruna Rodrigues, NGO Gene Campaign, etc.)
They seek a moratorium on releasing any GMOs until independent expert bodies conduct a comprehensive bio-safety protocol in the public domain.

Earlier Committee reports have called for a ban on GMOs

The ‘Jairam Ramesh Report’ (2010)
The Sopory Committee Report (August 2012)
The Parliamentary Standing Committee (PSC) Report on GM crops (2012)
Supreme Court-appointed TEC Final Report (2013)
- HT crops are unsuitable for the Indian context and warned of serious risks to biodiversity, ecology, and sustainability of agriculture.
- It calls for a ban on the environmental release of any GMO where India is the centre of origin or diversity.

Centers of origin refer to the regions where a particular species is believed to have originated or evolved.
Centers of diversity refer to the regions where a particular species has the highest genetic variation.

India and GM crops

In 2004, India allowed commercial cultivation of GM cotton (non-edible), which now accounts for more than 90% of the nation’s harvest.
In 2010, GM eggplant (brinjal) also cleared GEAC’s review, but an indefinite moratorium was placed on its introduction, citing safety concerns.
Dhara Mustard Hybrid-11 (DMH-11) will be the second GM plant, and the first Indigenously developed GM food crop to reach India’s farmers (if approved).

Science behind DMH11

Mustard is a self-pollinating plant. (flowers contain both male and female organs).
Therefore, a pollination control mechanism is required to encourage cross-pollination for hybrid seed production.
For this, one of the two parental lines of a hybrid must be made male sterile so that it receives pollen from the other parent to form a seed.
Male sterile lines can be developed using,
- cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS) (conventional breeding technique).
- Genetic engineering using transgenes.

Examples of self-pollinating plants: Wheat, barley, oats, rice, tomatoes, potatoes, apricots, and peaches.

CMS systems have been found inadequate for large-scale hybrid seed production. Hence, there is a need to use Barnase-Barstar technology.

Cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS) is a phenomenon in plants where a plant cannot produce functional pollen due to genetic factors in the cytoplasm rather than the nuclear genome.

A diagram of a plant Description automatically generated

Barnase-barstar system

It is a genetic engineering approach used in plants, particularly in crops like mustard, to achieve controlled male sterility and facilitate hybrid seed production.
The technology utilises three genes derived from the soil bacterium Bacillus amyloliquefaciens (bar, barnase and barstar).
- In nature, bacterium excretes a defence protein called Barnase (ribonuclease), degrading competing bacteria’s RNA in an ecological niche.
- To protect itself from Barnase, the bacterium produces another protein called Barstar, which tightly binds with Barnase and renders it ineffective.
The insertion of the Barnase gene in the mustard plant induces genetic male sterility by preventing the production of the male gametophytes (pollen grains).
Meanwhile, the Barstar gene restores the plant’s ability to produce fertile hybrid seeds.
The Bar gene is responsible for the Glufosinate (herbicide) resistance.

Why hybrids are needed?

Crossing of genetically diverse parents results in hybrids with increased yield (20-25 per cent) and adaptation. This phenomenon is known as hybrid vigourorheterosis.
It has been widely exploited in crops like rice, maize, pearl millet, sunflower and many vegetables.

The difference between a transgenic or GM and a hybrid plant is that a transgenic plant contains external DNA, and the latter only contains DNA from both parents via fertilisation.
All genetically engineered organisms and products are regulated in India as per “Rules for Manufacture, Use/Import/Export & Storage of Hazardous Micro-organisms/GE organisms or cells, 1989” notified under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.

Government’s argument

Economic security: Hybrids yield higher than pure-line varieties and will help the country reduce its edible oil deficit.
- India faces a severe shortage of edible oils. Imports of over 14 million tonnes (around Rs 1.5 lakh crore) in foreign exchange in 2021-22.
- The government claims that transgenic seeds could raise yields to 3-3.5 tonnes per hectare while resistant to pests that cause white rust.

White rust is caused by several fungus-like oomycetes.
Symptoms: Light yellow areas develop on leaves.

Food Security: Given the increased growth of the Indian population and urbanisation, GM crops offer promising solutions to meet the world’s food security needs.
Safety: Several international organisations (FAO, WHO, OECD) have concluded that biotechnology products are as safe and nutritious.
Use of technology: A major challenge today is to develop low-input, high-output agriculture. This cannot be achieved without technology.

Concerns against GM Crops

Threatens the future of apiculture export: Mustard honey crystallises quickly, making export to the US and EU feasible. But these countries also demand GM-free certification.
No increase in Yield: The highest yields in mustard are from the five countries that do not grow GM mustard (U.K., France, Poland, Germany and the Czech Republic) and not from the GM-growing U.S. or Canada (FAO data).
Issue of Resistance: Besides White Rust, the mustard crop is also prone to other diseases. The pests and insects may grow resistant to the transgenic crop after a decade.
Undesirable consequences
- Honeybees could transfer the genes of GM mustard to other plants, which may lead to the growth of unwanted and invasive weeds.
- Transgenic technology, unlike other technologies, is uncontrollable and irreversible after environmental release.
- There are also no long-term studies in the Indian context on the metabolic impact of barstar and barnase genes on the human and animal body.
Regulatory violations: Civil society groups have put out detailed evidence-based reports to showcase several illegalities concerning regulatory appraisal.
- For example, the full biosafety dossier of GM mustard has not been published on the regulator’s website.
- There has been no health expert involved in GM mustard safety appraisal.
- Explicit objections from numerous states were ignored even though agriculture and health are state subjects per the IC.
Failure of Bt cotton: There was a proposed link between the poor performance of Bt cotton and many farmers’ suicides, particularly in 2004.
Issues in classifying GM mustard as a herbicide-tolerant (HT) crop: The government argues it is not a herbicide-tolerant (HT) crop. However, GM mustard is an HT crop because it can withstand herbicides due to the presence of bar genes.

Way forward

Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC)

It functions under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC).
It is the apex body that allows for the commercial release of GM crops, including field trials.
It evaluates activities that use hazardous microorganisms and recombinants on a large scale, focusing on their environmental impact.
It is chaired by the Special Secretary/Additional Secretary of MoEFCC and co-chaired by a Department of Biotechnology (DBT) representative.
Presently, it has 24 members and meets every month to review the applications.

Rapeseed and Mustard

Rapeseed and mustard comprise several oilseeds as rai, sarson, toria and taramira.
These are subtropical crops cultivated during rabi season in north-western and central parts of India.
These are frost-sensitive crops, and their yields fluctuate from year to year.

Marker-Assisted Selection (MAS)

It is high-tech conventional breeding.
It uses advances in DNA sequencing to locate genetic markers linked to desired qualities (in this case, yield).
This will enable breeders to develop plants with the desired traits through non-GM.